PONTIFF PRAYS FOR VICTIMS OF TRAIN-BUS WRECK IN ARGENTINA

VATICAN CITY, SEPT. 16, 2011 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI is praying for the eternal repose of 11 people who died in a wreck involving two trains and a bus on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Early Tuesday morning, a train hit a bus at a street-level intersection and the train derailed, causing it to be hit by another train on the opposite track.

In addition to the 11 killed, more than 200 were injured.

The Pope’s secretary of state, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, sent a telegram on his behalf to Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, archbishop of Argentina.

“Deeply pained by the sad news of the railway accident in the neighborhood of Flores, the Supreme Pontiff wishes to send an expression of his closeness and affection, while at the same time praying fervently to God for the eternal repose of the deceased,” the text reads.

The Pontiff also sent his apostolic blessing, the Vatican reported, “as a sign of hope in the risen Christ.”